Intro [Feat. Zola Jesus]

Probably this is the song of the year

We didn't need a story, we didn't need a real world We just had to keep walking And we became the stories, we became the places We were the lights, the deserts, the faraway worlds We were you before you even existed

To me, this sounds like the stars speaking, in a way. I read once that, when you get down to it, we are all particles of stars. "We were you before you even existed" seems to illustrate this point perfectly.

Regardless of what it means, this is an incredibly amazing song.

holy shit i saw zola jesus and thought "oh, this will be cool" i was fucking wrong this is the epic for our generation this is music

I believe this song is somehow connected to the story of King Arthur. The silver horn, the marching through snow with banners, and even a quote directly from Lancelot, "I'll keep you warm."

Agreed! Possibly album of the year.

This seems to consolidate a lot of m83s previous work, which makes it a highly suitable Intro to such an ambitious album.

M83 did quite a great job on this song and album. This and "Splendor" are so atmospherically beautiful.

I'll take a stab at the meaning. I believe this song celebrates the journey of life from the make-believe of childhood to memories of the past: "We didn't need a story, we didn't need a real world, we just had to keep walking and we became the stories"

Through challenges as a young adult to the present: "Carry on, carry on, carry on and after us, the flood, carry on, carry on our silver horn leads the way"

And finally, the song exalts in the fact that as we and our circumstances change throughout our lives, we live as many different people, but we're always ourselves in the present: "we were you before you even existed" "Our silver horn leads the way" "Footprints of snow, blind from the road" "Follow us, we are one" "hand on my breast, I'll keep you warm"

I'm sure this at least is entirely person but this song is a very visual experience for me. I see myself marching with dozens of versions of myself all from previous stages of my life, and all in viking uniform with silver horns and banners through a valley in the snow. Sort of a transcendent metaphor of life's struggle and progress.

Correction: In the last stanza, after "Hand to the heart, lips to the horn", the line "We can save, we can be reborn" is currently missing.

Does anyone have any opinion or know, when they say "hail" in the song, does it mean hail like ice or hail as in "hail to the king?"

Does anyone know what they mean by "we were you before you even existed"? I get what the stanza before that is getting at...I just don't exactly know this part. Thanks.